Lenovo recently refreshed their smart devices lineup in India by bringing a bunch of smart devices ranging from smart fitness bands to smart scales. This year’s Lenovo fitness band lineup includes the HX03F Spectra and HX03 Cardio. Both of these Lenovo Fitness Bands pack heart rate sensors and are water resistant.
The smart fitness product market has seen a growth in the last 2 years after Xiaomi and many other Chinese vendors brought their products to India. The market is filled with products ranging from less than Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 50,000 depending on the features you want.
We have been using the Lenovo HX03F Spectra fitness band for just over a week now and here’s what we found.
Key features of Lenovo HX03F
- Color Display
- Dynamic Heart rate monitor
- IP68 Waterproof grade
- Activity Tracker
- Multi-master Interface Switching
- Color: Black
Box Contents
The box is small and simple, nothing fancy here. The box comes with just the normal paperwork which includes a quick start guide and warranty card. There are no cables bundled since the band features a USB connector, which is covered with the bands itself.
Build and Design
The Lenovo HX03F has a very sturdy build. Lenovo has used good quality materials in the construction of this product and it feels that way too. The silicon straps are non-allergic and are ideal for prolonged use. The straps supplied have the same mechanism used in the watches instead of the tich button mechanism that many of the fitness bands use. This adds an extra level of satisfaction and security to the wearer. What we didn’t like is, instead of going with a charging dock, Lenovo went with the USB attached to the body for charging. This can be off-putting for some since for each charging cycle you need to pull out the band and then plugin the band to Laptop or PC.
During our 10 days of using the band, we charged the band twice. So its safe to say that the band can easily last you about 5 days. We didn’t notice any wear and tear on the straps while pulling them for charging the band, but we don’t think the bands will last for a long time.
Coming to the display, Lenovo went with a color display for this model. Considering the size of the tracker itself the display seems to be accurately made for it. There is a capacitive button on the bottom of the display which can be used to navigate the menu. Lenovo has cramped a bunch of software customization to cater a wide range of users. We think the display could have been a little more bright since the outdoor visibility is near to zero. Perhaps this could have been deliberately done to conserve battery and also to get a sweet brightness spot for changing environmental conditions.
But we do hope this can be fixed with a software update.
Performance and Fitness Tracking
With the Lenovo HX03F, you can track a bunch of metrics from your heart rate to sound sleep. The main issue with the trackers in this range and size is the accuracy of the data. A number of smart fitness bands have been faced with the issue of accuracy in the past and Lenovo is no exception. What we found in our tests is that the error rate on this tracker is very marginal.
The step and distance counter works well, the area where the trackers are ineffective is sleep tracking. Most of the tracker is hardcoded to monitor and record sleep patterns within a specified time range. Now this time range is mostly set between 10 pm to 10 am on a number of trackers. The trackers don’t really record the data if the sleep patterns are out of this time and so does the HX03F.
Lenovo HX03F lets you know the amount of deep sleep you got by using a bunch of sensors on board. The main USP of this product apart from the color display is the Active Heart Rate Monitor. The HX03F takes the heart rate reading at a 15 min intervals which can be really helpful for users tracking their vitals. The accuracy rate here is above 92-93%.
Lenovo has gone with a Multilayered user interface which can be tweaked according to your taste. You can switch between different metrics by just tapping on the capacitive button. For instance, if you tap and hold the capacitive button while on the main menu, you can change the watch faces which further contain options for customization, similar is the case with the step counter menu.
Apart from the basic fitness-related metrics, the band can display notifications as well. The band can display a bunch of notification ranging from the phone calls, emails, text messages and other social media apps.
Coming to the app, we found the pairing process very simple and straightforward. The app has everything laid out neatly and without any confusion. There are cards for steps, sleep and heart rate, wherein you get the complete report. The app displays historical data as well, by displaying in a graphical form. This can be useful for monitoring your health and making changes in your current patterns.
Lenovo HX03F Pricing
- Rs. 2,299 (Best Offer)
Pros
- Decent design
- Active Heart Rate Monitor
- Decent battery life
- IP-68 water resistance
- Well priced
Cons
- Display not visible outdoors
- Use of USB onboard charging
Verdict – Should you go for it?
The Lenovo HX03F is offering a bunch of features that aren’t available in this price range like an Active Heart Rate sensor, color display. Though the display is dim outdoors but gives you a wide range of customization on the software side.
If Active heart rate sensor and color display is not a preference for you, then there are plenty of good options in the market. Considering the number of features Lenovo is offering in the HX03F and at that Rs. 2,299 makes it hard to pass.
